‘BURNING AT THE STAKE’

Michigan GOP Chair Calls Governor a Witch, Jokes About Assassination

“Other than assassination, I have no other way than voting them out, ok?” Ron Weiser told a local Republican club.

Michigan’s Republican Party chair is under fire after calling the state’s top female elected officials “witches” during an event Thursday and joking about them “burning at the stake.” At a meeting of a regional Republican club, Ron Weiser said, “Our job is now to soften up those three witches and make sure that we have good candidates to run against them, that they are ready for the burning at the stake.” His comments referred to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. All three are Democrats, and all three face re-election in 2022. Later in the event, Weiser said in response to an audience member’s question, “Other than assassination, I have no other way other than voting them out, ok?” Whitmer’s press secretary issued a blistering statement in response: “Given the dramatic increase in death threats against Michigan elected officials during the Trump administration, this type of rhetoric is destructive and downright dangerous. We saw this firsthand when Republican legislators met with the very militias that tried to kidnap and kill the governor.”